Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a shredder for shredding or comminuting trash, waste material and the like in a waste recycling system which includes a hopper having a pair of spaced rotatable shafts with shredding elements thereon forming the bottom portion of the hopper with the shafts being independently driven at a relatively slow speed with the shredding elements being generally circular and having overlapping peripheral portions with staggered teeth thereon and rotating in opposite directions to provide an effective shearing, shredding and comminuting action. The shafts are square with the shredding elements having a correspondingly square central aperture so that they can slip onto the shaft in one of four positions with spacers provided between the shredding elements to maintain them properly spaced thereby eliminating the necessity of using keys or other fastening arrangements. The teeth on each shredding element has an inclined radial face with the teeth being located at circumferentially different positions. Each shredding element includes a plurality of plates with each plate having a tooth or teeth with the outermost teeth being disposed in leading relation to the centrally disposed teeth.